Bible Reading

Here is the post on how I study my Bible that I've been promising for awhile now. This is just the method that I use; I'm not saying that everyone should study their Bible this way, nor am I implying that it's the best way to study your Bible. It's the way that I've found to be the best for me, but some other way may work best for you. I just thought I'd share it here on the chance that it might help someone.

I've already shared that I'm reading through the Old Testament this year. I told you in my last blog post that I'm trying to read three chapters a day. That's still my goal, but it's not always feasible. Sometimes I get so caught up in a chapter that it takes me forever to get through just that one chapter. On days like that, I just read whatever I have time for. Then, on other days, when the chapters are shorter or I have more time, I'll read more than three chapters.

I was planning on just focusing on how I study the New Testament in this post, but it makes sense to go ahead and give a brief overview of how I'm studying the Old Testament as well. It's somewhat the same as how I study the New Testament, but it's a bit different in some areas.

Let me start by sharing with you my Bible study tools. First, of course, is my Bible. I have a beautiful John MacArthur Study Bible that a friend gave me for Christmas. It's such a wonderful asset to my Bible study! I love it! The notes shed so much light on Scripture, and it has maps and a concordance as well. I also always have a notebook and a pen. I like to jot down notes and thoughts in it about the passage that I'm reading. It helps me remember what I read, and I can look back on it later to see my notes on that passage.

In addition to these, I have a couple of tools that I don't use all the time, but do use occasionally. The first one is Vine's Expository Dictionary (another gift; I received it from the pastor of my church when I graduated from college). This comes in handy when I run across words that I'm not sure about, or that I want to know more about. Lastly, I have my Bible software, E-Sword.  It's available for free from http://www.e-sword.net/. The thing that I love most about it is that you can download several commentaries and Bible versions for it, as well as other study helps, and the majority of them are free. It's a very useful tool.

Now, onto how I actually study the Bible, starting with the Old Testament. As I said earlier, I try to read three chapters a day in the Old Testament when I can. I usually read it in the afternoons before work, so it depends what time I get up and what else I have to do as to how long I can read. While I'm reading, I keep my pen and notebook by my side. If I come across something that catches my attention I use those to jot down my thoughts and any application that I gain from that passage. The pen also comes in handy for underlining verses in my Bible that stick out to me and that I want to come back to later. If there's something that I don't understand in the passage, or that I want to know more about, I first reference the notes in my Bible. If I have more questions after that, I use the commentaries that I have on E-Sword.

That's basically my method for studying the Old Testament. Pretty basic & simple, and likely pretty similar to the way the rest of you study the Bible. Now, onto how I study the New Testament.

In studying the New Testament, I concentrate on one book a month. If it's a short book (like James, Philippians, Philemon, etc.) I read through the whole book every day for the whole month. If it's a longer book (like Matthew, Roman, Revelation, etc.) I break the book into sections and read that section for a month. I use the same method of jotting down notes in a notebook as I do with the Old Testament.

This isn't an original method from me, actually. I got it from the notes on how to study the Bible that are in the front of my Bible. However, I have tweaked it a bit to work more for me. The reasoning behind it is to become thoroughly acquainted with all of the New Testament books and their content. Be advised, with 28 books in the New Testament, it's gonna take some time to get through the whole New Testament. However, I believe it will be worth it in the end.

I'd like to hear from you all. How do you read and study your Bible? What methods have you found to be most useful for you? Any tools or helps that you'd recommend?

Thankful

You know that verse in Bible that says, " Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." (Rom. 12:15)? Well, today, that verse has a whole new meaning to me.

Last night I arrived at work to the news that the company I work for was letting 182 people go, 92 of those at the location where I work. I was not expecting this at all. We had been slow at work for awhile, and had just gotten back from a temporary three week layoff, which thankfully only affected me for a week and a half. To come back to the news that people were going to be let go was a shock, to say the least. Everyone was taken by surprise, and, naturally, worried about their job, myself included. The most awful part? Most everyone had heard about it either on the news (http://www.abc6onyourside.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wsyx_vid_15974.shtml) or by word of mouth from those who had seen it on the news.

Thankfully, out of the twenty-eight that were let go on my shift, I was not one of the ones let go. Most of my friends were spared as well; however, a few of my friends were let go. I felt a mixture of relief and sadness. Relief at knowing that I still had a job, but sadness for all those who did not.

Our facility is rather small, and the shift that I work on is the smallest. We only had a little over 100 people before last night, so everyone knew each other. Spending ten hours a day, four, and sometimes five or six, days a week, means that you become close to many of the people that you work with. It's very much a family-like atmosphere.

It was very difficult to see people go, even those that I wasn't particularly close to. There were many tears shed last night, both by those who were let go, and by those who remained. It was a difficult, awful, horrible night.

Through it all, I am constantly reminded of the LORD's goodness and grace. I am so very thankful that I still have a job. So many times I've gone into working wishing that I didn't have to be there, but tonite changed my attitude drastically. I am determined to not longer have a bad attitude about work, but rather go in each day and be thankful that I still have a job.

Please be in prayer for all of those who have been, and will be (the weekend shift will find out Friday who stays and who goes), let go.

February, Already?!

I can't believe it's already February!! January absolutely flew by! I meant to post at least a couple more times before January was over, but time got away from me.

Since I failed to mention what goal I was focusing on in January in my post on goals, I'll start with that.

In January, I chose to focus on my goal of reading through the Old Testament in a year. I started around mid-January or so, and so far I've made in through Genesis chapter 18. I try to read about three chapters a day, but that's not always possible. I'm trying to make sure that I actually comprehend and get something out of what I read, rather than just reading it to get through it. Some days I find myself spending quite a bit of time on just a small section of verses, reading and rereading them, finding new truths in passages that I've read many, many times.

I think I'm going to quite enjoy this goal. Even though it's off to a slow start right now, I'm sure once I move out of Genesis it will pick up pace. Genesis just has so many of my favorite Bible stories that I tend to take a long time to get through just one chapter.

The goal that I've chosen to focus on in February is getting into better shape. I live within ten minutes of our local YMCA, so I am planning on getting a membership there. In order to do this without hurting my goals of paying off my credit card and saving more money, I'm going to cancel my cable. A membership at the Y is actually $14 less than what I pay for cable, so I plan on putting that extra $14 towards my credit card bill until it is payed off. Once I get it payed off, that money will go into savings. I plan to call tomorrow to cancel the cable, and then hopefully going to the YMCA on Friday to become a member and start working out.

I've been blessed with a wonderful Y that has plenty of amenities and equipment. They have two indoor pools, an outdoor pool, two gymnasiums, a walking/jogging track, a huge strength training center, an aerobic studio, racquetball courts, multipurpose courts, sports fields, and a bike path. The things that I see myself using the most are the pool, the track, the strength training center, and the aerobic studio. In addition to these, they have tons of fitness classes, such as zumba, cycling, and water exercise. Unfortunately, due to working night shift, I probably won't be able to attend these, but we'll see. They open early enough that I can stop there on my way home from work, and they stay open late as well, so I could even stop on my way too work if I wanted.

I hope to do a post soon about how I read through/study the New Testament. It's something that I just started this year, but I've found it very helpful. Hopefully I can get that written and up before this month is over. I'm excited about it!